


Direct Dial

by pocky_slash



Series: grace coming out of the void [5]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: During Canon, Gen, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Phone Calls & Telephones, post-episode
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-27
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2019-12-18 14:11:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18251453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pocky_slash/pseuds/pocky_slash
Summary: Chapter 1: After a very frustrating conversation with the rest of the Pine Guard, Barclay needs to vent.*Chapter 2: To listen to your messages, press 1.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Got a deadline in less than a week, so I knocked this out instead of finishing that, Like An Adult.
> 
> This takes place right after the Money Zone in episode 22. The entire time the gang was trying to figure out what to do about the Hornets, I was pulling my hair and yelling at them to _maybe consult Barclay and Mama_ , and I remembered it again this morning. It's more-or-less canon compliant up to episode 24 (which aired last week as of the time of this posting), but as long as you've listened through 22 you should be good.
> 
> This doesn't necessarily have to be read in the context of my other stories, but in my head it's part of that same universe.

Barclay slams his way through lunch with enough ire that everyone gives him a wide berth. It's not that he's mad, really. Anger doesn't really come into the equation. He's terrified is what he is. Terrified and desperately frustrated that none of the Pine Guard--none of his _friends_ \--seem to understand that this is more than an academic exercise to him. This isn't just a matter of wondering how the town will react to discovering the Pine Guard's secrets, this is a matter of Barclay's livelihood and life. Sure, Hollis and the rest of the Hornets might leave him alone (Jake has vouched for them repeatedly), but that doesn't mean that some asshole from town won't be interested in adding a Bigfoot to his hunting trophies.

When he breaks a glass while loading the dishwasher, he makes himself stop and take deep breaths, frozen in place for a full minute as he counts the seconds and tries to calm himself. He can't go into hysterics, he has a job to do. Losing his shit is pointless right now, when he has no idea who knows what or how to keep his secrets. He needs to cautiously proceed and wait to see what happens.

He's absolutely terrible at both of those things.

He finishes cleaning up and heads out of the kitchen. He needs to get rid of some of this nervous energy, but he's not sure how, so he heads to Mama's office to see if there are any errands she needs run. The office is empty, but the phone on the desk gives him another idea.

Indrid picks up after the second ring.

"Hello, my dear," he says.

"It feels weird that I was sitting here, hoping that you were miles away," Barclay says. "I'm so used to wishing you were closer, but closer means no phone signal."

"It's regrettable," Indrid agrees. 

"I guess if I can't have you with me, it makes sense to want you where I can talk to you, even if it means you're too far to be here," Barclay continues, and then pauses. Trying and failing not to sound too hopeful, he asks, "Are you...?"

"New York," Indrid admits, but at least he sounds disappointed. Barclay certainly is. "But you didn't call to complain about the distance."

"I didn't," Barclay says. "Are you up to speed on what's been going on here today?"

"Not fully," Indrid says. "Fill me in."

So Barclay goes over the murder, the suspect, the investigation. He tells Indrid all about the Hornets' new neighborhood watch and Stern breaking up what could have been a fight. He rounds it out by recounting the conversation in the basement, his voice rising with each word.

"And it's like they don't even care!" he says. "It's like they've _forgotten_ that this is my _life_! I fucked this up enough on my own--I don't need someone else bringing my entire world down around me!"

He rubs his forehead with the heel of his hand. This is just riling him up again--he should have known better, should have recognized that reliving this afternoon was just going to reignite his fears.

"I'm scared, Indrid."

There's a small release of breath on the other side of the phone line, a whisper of longing. Barclay flexes his fingers and knows that several hundred miles away, Indrid is wishing to hold him just as hard as Barclay is wishing to be held.

"I know," is what Indrid finally says. "By the time I wrap this up and get back to Kepler, this whole hunt will be over already. I wish I could leave now."

"It's okay," Barclay says, even though it's really not. "I just wanted to vent. To talk to someone who understands without worrying everyone at the lodge."

"It's admirable, but then, you've always been admirable when it comes to others."

Miles apart and Indrid can still make him blush.

"Your recollection of the past is a little rosier than I deserve," he says.

"I feel like this is the place for a 'rose-colored glasses' joke, but we're both above that."

Barclay snorts and rests his head on the desk. "God, I miss you. Shitty jokes and all."

"I miss you too," Indrid says. 

They're both quiet for long minutes, listening to each other breathe. Barclay closes his eyes and tries to hold onto this moment of calm, right up until there's a knock on Mama's office door.

"Barclay?" Mama calls in. "That you locking me out of my own office?"

"Yeah," he yells out. "Give me a minute, I'm on the phone."

"Time to go," Indrid says. He sounds as sad as Barclay feels, and that's something, at least.

"Yeah, I've got work to do," Barclay says. "I'll call you tonight, though, if you want."

"I do want," Indrid says. He hesitates and then adds, "Barclay?"

"Mmhm?"

"Don't go outside today. Please. Just...promise me you'll stay in."

Barclay's known Indrid long enough not to ask questions when he makes requests like that.

"I won't," he promises. He was going to go to the hardware store, but that can wait until tomorrow. "I'll call you tonight?"

"You will," Indrid confirms. "I love you, you know."

"I do," Barclay says. "I love you too. I'll talk to you later."

They say their goodbyes and Barclay slowly lets the phone drop down into the cradle. He sighs and allows himself ten seconds to be utterly miserable and lonely, and then stands up from the desk and unlocks the door.

Mama is standing on the other side. She doesn't look pleased, but she also looks a little guilty.

"Boyfriend?" she asks, nodding towards the phone.

"Yeah." Barclay rubs the back of his neck and shrugs.

"Good," Mama says. "Feel better?"

He pauses to consider and then makes a 'so-so' gesture. It's the best he can offer right now.

"Guess that's better than nothing," she says. And then, "Barclay...I forget, sometimes, that it's different for you. You're the first Sylph we've had on the Pine Guard proper since I started it up, and sometimes I forget that protecting all of you from the town is just as important as protecting the town from the abominations."

It's the closest he's going to get to an apology, and he takes it.

"It's fine," he says.

"It's not. And I'll try to remember in the future. No promises, but...you're family and I don't want anything to happen to you." She squeezes his shoulder and nods at him, a moment of understanding passing between them. Then she gives him a shove out of the doorway. "Now, get out of my office."

"Yes, ma'am," he says. He pushes off the doorframe and heads back down the hall towards the lobby. There are at least half a dozen inside chores he can busy himself with today, starting with laundry. If he can't go out, maybe he can strategize a little while folding sheets, funnel his anxiety into something productive instead of wearing a track in his room pacing.

They're on the precipice of something, that's for sure. Whatever it is won't be good, but there's no stopping it--all they can do is prepare.

He repeats that to himself as he descends the basement steps. He may not be able to do much here at the lodge, but he can stock the infirmary and make sure they have food and clean towels and handy supplies. There's something coming, but he hasn't come this far and survived this long to let it ruin his life and take him out without a fight.


	2. Eight Missed Calls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To listen to your messages, press 1.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SPOILERS FOR AMNESTY EPISODES 28 and 29.
> 
> I've basically been writing conversations between Barclay and Indrid in my head after each recent episode, and after this last lunar interlude, I finally wrote some down.

" _Hello and thank you for calling the CRYPTONOMICA, your premiere source for all the latest and greatest information about the mYsTeRiOuS creeeaaatures lurking within the forests surrounding the fair city of Kepler, West Virginia! I, your humble proprietor, Ned "Monster Master" Chicane, am unable to assist you at this moment, probably utterly_ overrun _by eager visitors to this popular establishment. Please leave your name, number, and a brief message, and I'll get back to you as soon as I'm able. Thank you!_ "

***beep!***

"Aubrey, please go get Barclay and then I'd appreciate it if you left him alone, though I know the odds that you'll do so are not in my favor. Regardless, please know that I'm deeply sorry for your loss. Anyway, I'll wait.

...

...

Barclay? I'm so very sorry. This...this isn't how it was going to happen. The odds that it broke this way...this wasn't even on my radar as a strong possibility. If I had known....well. I'm not sure what I would have done if I had known. I made a promise to myself a long time ago that I wasn't going to meddle and we made some promises to each other about how we would treat the future.

We seem to be breaking those promises left and right, so who knows what would have happened if I saw this coming.

I know you're angry. And I know you're terrified. And I wish I could be there right now, but me riding into town in the aftermath of this doesn't end well for anyone.

Soon, though. I promise I'll be there soon. I won't be able to stay for long, but it's better than nothing. I just...I want to see you. I hope you want to see me. Things are happening--the scope of whatever this is, it's...it's too enormous for even me to see. There are strands of fate intertwining from at least four different planets, it's huge, and it's building to...to...I've never seen anything like it. Barclay, it's just....

Well. I don't want this to be a business call. This is for you. This is just...because I want you to know you're not alone right now.

You're not. I'm here. I'm just a phone call away.

Call me. Please.

I love you. I'll see you in a few weeks."

* * *

" _You're the only one who has this number, my dear._ "

`AFTER THE TONE, PLEASE RECORD YOUR VOICE MESSAGE. WHEN YOU ARE FINISHED RECORDING, HANG UP OR PRESS 1 FOR MORE OPTIONS.`

***beep!***

"I'm calling because you asked me to call.

I don't know what to say.

I'm not. Um.

I'm not mad at you. I don't even know if you think I'm mad at you, but I'm not. I know how hard it can be for you, sometimes, to guess which way something is going to go. What's going to happen. And this was just...it was a fucking mess, Indrid.

It was a fucking mess. All of it.

Shit, I'm tired.

Um, obviously you know where we are. I'm not going to...say it. In case they're bugging the phones? Who fucking knows, what does it even matter? But you know where we are. And, I mean--I get it. Things are insane here. The Lodge is shut down, the fucking _mountain_ has been destroyed, we're all scattered and in hiding, and Ned is--

I get it. Everyone in town is on edge. They'll be extra suspicious of anyone who shows up in the aftermath. But I'm not too proud to say that, um...I really wish you were here. I really...I need you, okay? 

Even just to talk. Call me back?

Oh, um, and Janelle says hi."

* * *

" _You're the only one who has this number, my dear._ "

`AFTER THE TONE, PLEASE RECORD YOUR VOICE MESSAGE. WHEN YOU ARE FINISHED RECORDING, HANG UP OR PRESS 1 FOR MORE OPTIONS.`

***beep!***

"This is--this is stupid, I know this is stupid, but, um, I didn't tell you that I love you? In that last message.

Which is--you _know_ , I know that you know, obviously. We've been through that. A lot. I don't doubt that you know. I don't doubt that you love me. But everything is just...it's just so much, now, and with Mama in custody and Ned....

If something happens to you and I didn't say it--I'll just obsess. Forever. That I had a chance to say it and I didn't. I'd lose my mind. More than I'm already losing it.

I'm fucking losing it, Indrid. I just--

Fuck, fuck fuck.

I love you. I love you more than...more than anything, really. Which is--I thought it was stupid, letting myself love you that much again. I told myself I was going to be cautious this time. But I wasn't and now that everything's happened--fuck it all, right? Who knows if I'll even still be alive in three months' time. What does it matter?

I love you. I'm sorry I'm fucking crazy. Please call me."

* * *

" _Hello and thank you for calling the CRYPTONOMICA, your premiere source for all the latest and greatest information about the mYsTeRiOuS creeeaaatures lurking within the forests surrounding the fair city of Kepler, West Virginia! I, your humble proprietor, Ned "Monster Master" Chicane, am unable to assist you at this moment, probably utterly_ overrun _by eager visitors to this popular establishment. Please leave your name, number, and a brief message, and I'll get back to you as soon as I'm able. Thank you!_ "

***beep!***

"Despite being privy to most of the machinations of the world, I can't fathom why you've been put in charge of the phone, Keith. Please go fetch Barclay.

And then leave.

I mean it.

Or you'll end up with a lot worse than a broken leg.

...

...

Hello, my dear. I got your messages. You don't need to apologize. And you're not crazy. We're staring down an uncertain future. It's uncertain even to me. We were so close--there was a narrow path where we all came out alive, we all came out intact, and things were resolved neatly and without trauma. The odds of us staying on that path were minimal, but we came close enough that I had thought that maybe....

It doesn't matter. That's not what happened. And we have to live with what actually happened.

Here's my--

Well. I shouldn't--

But no. Like you said, fuck it all. Here's my 'fuck it all' wish: leave Kepler. 

You can leave. You can get a car and you can leave Kepler and you can come find me and we can--

It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what we do after. What matters is that _you can leave_. Before the next abomination. Before whatever is going to happen when all of this comes to a head. You can leave and you can come to me and we can go somewhere else, anywhere else, and be together and _safe_. You can leave and you'll be _safe_. You'll be with me.

...

I know you'll never do that. But that's my fantasy right now.

Take care, my love. Call me back."

* * *

" _You're the only one who has this number, my dear._ "

`AFTER THE TONE, PLEASE RECORD YOUR VOICE MESSAGE. WHEN YOU ARE FINISHED RECORDING, HANG UP OR PRESS 1 FOR MORE OPTIONS.`

***beep!***

"You know I can't do that, Indrid. This is my home.

Fuck, I wish we weren't playing phone tag.

Love you."

* * *

_"Um...hi. Thanks for calling the Cryptonomica. We're currently closed indefinitely. If you'd like to sign up for updates on the off chance we open again, you can do that at TheLamplighter.org. Otherwise...leave a message after the beep, I guess."_

***beep!***

"Hello, love. Goodbye, Janelle.

I know you'll never leave, that's why it's just a fantasy. 

I wish you would. I wish--

I knew this would be hard, but I wanted it more than I had good sense, I suppose. I missed you so much--I love you so much--that I thought I would be able to power through the distance, the danger. I thought I'd be able to handle the knowledge that you would be putting your life on the line. I thought I'd be okay, knowing I couldn't be there for you, that I couldn't protect you.

It's so much harder than I imagined it would be.

All I want is for you to be safe. I honestly don't care what happens to the rest of the world. 

You've said before that my empathy for Earth, my desire to help is one of the things you love about me. I hope this doesn't make you love me less. Or, stars above, I can live with you loving me less if it means _you'll_ be alive.

Even if you hate me.

We'll talk soon, my darling."

* * *

" _You're the only one who has this number, my dear._ "

`AFTER THE TONE, PLEASE RECORD YOUR VOICE MESSAGE. WHEN YOU ARE FINISHED RECORDING, HANG UP OR PRESS 1 FOR MORE OPTIONS.`

***beep!***

"I could never hate you. I couldn't even hate you while we were apart, even though I tried every damn day to forget you.

This is fucking absurd, Indrid. Give me a time to call, or a time you'll call. I can't sit by the phone here all day--they need me to do things, we're stretched so thin as it is. We'll do it the old fashioned way--look at your calendar, tell me when you'll have some time free, and I'll call you at that time.

I just want to talk to you, for real.

I keep...ugh, don't let any of the rest of them know, but I haven't deleted any of your messages. I keep listening to them when no one else is around.

I just really want to talk to you. And I love you. Let me know when to call."

* * *

_"Um...hi. Thanks for calling the Cryptonomica. We're currently closed indefinitely. If you'd like to sign up for updates on the off chance we open again, you can do that at TheLamplighter.org. Otherwise...leave a message after the beep, I guess."_

***beep!***

"Aubrey, tell Barclay Friday at 2:30pm. He'll know what it means.

And tell him I love him too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There miiiiiiight be a third part of this. Mostly, I have three lines of dialogue between Barclay and Thacker stuck in my head that I might end up putting down.
> 
>  **ETA:** There sort of is a third part, but I made it its own work: [Eight Hours](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19760593)

**Author's Note:**

> Still plugging away at a bigger thing, but it's been so long since I wrote in an open canon that I'm nervous Griffin is gonna set my shit on fire any second now, so who knows how long until I finish it.


End file.
